Heckel's Adventures

Jen and I did a 4 day backpack trip in Washington. Rainy weather towards the end only intensified the greens in the foliage.

The weather was definately unsettled this weekend. You should be able to see Mt McGown here, but it is well hidden. We stayed warm by sleeping in the element with the caravan, very cozy. There's Mt McGowen! Just as we are planning to pack up too. We were able to stay dry with cooking with our big tarp, they make the trip. We did get a short opportunity to get out on the water in the canoe.

This glacier is so large, this helps to appreciate it's grandure. With the lake to the left, you can really only see the glacier in the video. It is so large, it is so humbling! The view is from Paso John Garner in the NP Torres del Paine of Chile.

This was a calm day in Puerto Natales after we hiked in NP Torres del Paine. This old doc just invites you into the lake. What a beautiful place!

I do think that this is one of my favorite pictures from vacation. Fitz Roy is hiding a little, but the moon is up to the left, and the sky is so blue. We were able to see Glacier Rio Blanco calve a couple times at this little visited lake. The hike took 3 hours round trip prior to hiking out from Fitz Roy, and we never saw another soul on the trail. Most seemed to visit Lago de los tres. I think we picked well!

Well, this is it, we´re headed home tonight, and back to work Monday. It sure has been great! Talk to everyone soon.

We were blessed with good weather when we went to El Chalten. We decided to backpack again instead of doing day hikes. It was a great decision! We had sun, abuout 80 degree weather, and clear views of the peaks! That is not very common from what we understand.

This photo is a new vantage point of Glacier Grey. This is where is contacts Lago Grey. So large, you just can´t imagine it all! This is at a viewing point for calving from Glacier Grey. There is a large claved portion of glacier behind us. As you can see, sometimes it calves as large as a house. This photo is from Lago Pehoe of the Grande Paine. This is peak is the often thought of image of Torres del Paine. Here we are in front of the Grande Paine.

This first picture was taken at a lunch break on our 2nd day of trekking. This picture is at the base of Los Perros Glacier. Our camp was just a little beyond this point, well protected by trees. We actually got some snow upon arrival to camp. There is a stranded ice piece in front of us, Larry sorta looks like he has a wide stance, but that is not the case. This photo was taken at the VERY WINDY Paso John Garner. The elevation was 1421 meters. We started at almost sea level. This is amazing we aren´t all a blurr with the wind whipping us around!! This is a photo from the paso, of Glacier Grey. It is the largest glacier in the area, and oh my, is it grand!

Today we took a bus from El Calafate, Argentina to Puerto Natales, Chile. The ride was good. Easy to dose off. The border control crossing was easy, but very very time consuming. The wind isn´t bad in the center of town, but down on the lake it is wicked!

This is a view of the glacier from the viewing decks. They have quite a network of them for some great opportunities to see some calving.

Larry and I got to don the crampons and trek on a glacier in Argentina on Wednesday! The Glacier is well known for it´s every 2 year calving events. Here we are on another side of the glacier during our trek. The glacier´s name is Perito Moreno.

The weather here in Buenos Aires is wonderful! Suny, warm. And the benefit of our luggage runing late, is we don´t have to cart those big big heavy bags around. We are expecting our bags to catch up with us in El Calafate. They will be taking a later flight than us there today. We were assured that they are currently in transit from Atlanta. And all 3 of them. That means that I don´t have to wash clothes in the sink!! Take care!

Well, 4 flights and 24 hours after leaving Boise, we arrived in Buenos Aires. Unfortunately, without any of our luggage. Now, we tracked down internet cafe, as the hotels internet is down. I am not finding much assistance on line so I do believe we will be back at the airport again tonight. Good thing, is we are showered and have gotten in a siesta. Feeling more alert. Practicing spanish is fun when not involving luggage. Luckily, there are people here at the international airport who are good at their English. Have a great day!

Bert pretends to look over Sawtooth Lake Ernie takes in the view of Sawtooth Lake Mt Reagan is on the right, Sawtooth Lake is in the majority of the photo, the south pond is in the distance McGowen Lakes, just over a pass from Sawtooth Lake, were subject to a wild fire last year

Unfortunately, I do not have any pics from Thursday. We drove to Sisters with a last minute change to our trip. We were able to meet up with some family there and BBQd together that night. We are now back home.

On Wednesday, we backtracked a bit to Newport and took in the aquarium. Very impressive. I guess there are two there, and from reviews of another couple, we took in the right one. Our weather cleared up and we got a great sunset back at the beach.